


To Be Well

by Fvtvrecatlady



Series: Nonlinear [3]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Depression, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Healing, M/M, Sibling Love, dom and darlene are u-haul sapphics, i fucking forgot to tag angst, i love these two, none of this is edited, rebuilding your life is hard, silly me im only capable of writing angst, sorry - Freeform, they're struggling but they have each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28256376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fvtvrecatlady/pseuds/Fvtvrecatlady
Summary: In which Darlene takes care of Elliot after the Incident and in which they rebuild what they had lost. Darlene grapples with the guilt of growth.The three months before the events of Healing Isn’t Linear.
Relationships: Darlene Alderson & Elliot Alderson, Darlene Alderson/Dominique DiPierro, Elliot Alderson/Tyrell Wellick
Series: Nonlinear [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583617
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	To Be Well

**Author's Note:**

> bet you thought you've seen the last of me. SIKE. i'm back and with a darlene pov fic. i wrote this instead of writing personal essays for grad school applications. oops. i hope you enjoy and i know the title doesn't fit but i wrote the title before i wrote the fic. if you have any better ideas please tell me. also none of this is edited, so im sorry for all of your eyes

Elliot sleeps long hours these days. Darlene watches the little tuft of hair underneath the covers obsessively. That’s all she can do these days: sit at the kitchen table in Elliot’s apartment and stare at her brother. She, on the other hand, sleeps very little these days. She can’t sleep, it’s been evading her ever since Elliot was in the hospital. She’s scared that if she closes her eyes, he’ll be gone. That his survival was a rouse all along. 

But as long as she stays awake, watching the rise and fall of his chest, then she’ll be fine. With a shaky hand, she lifts her cigarette to her mouth.

They had been living together in Elliot’s apartment since he got out of the hospital. Elliot needed someone to take care of him and Darlene technically had nowhere to stay. Since her depressive spiral, she was kicked out of her and Cisco’s shared apartment and E Corp had put Angela’s old apartment on the market. So these days, she slept on Elliot’s uncomfortable couch. She wouldn’t have it any other way. She needed to keep an eye on him. She needed to be a good sister. 

The first few weeks they were back, Elliot could hardly do anything by himself. His body still ached from the explosion, still not completely healed but well enough to be discharged from the hospital. Darlene took care of him, cooking their meals, making sure he ate, getting him to walk around a bit. She could tell he hated the coddling, but was too tired to do anything about it. 

(The hospital bill was mailed to their address. When she tore it open, she was shocked to see that it had been already paid in full. By a T. Wellick. Her eyebrows raised in surprise but she tucked the hospital bill away between the pages in her planner.)

Elliot didn’t talk much these days. But Darlene was used to that. Growing up, after particularly bad episodes, Elliot would fall into this muteness. It’s a habit that he never grew out of. But Darlene is happy to fill the silence with her nonsense. They spend most days sitting together on his mattress, Darlene’s rambles filling the silence while Elliot sits beside her, Flipper on his lap. He runs his fingers through her fur and stares past Darlene, his grey eyes staring at the wall. Once in a while, he’ll hum in response to her. 

Slowly, Elliot gets better. His broken body heals and sleep becomes less frequent. He still doesn’t talk much but Darlene sees little bits of the brother she knew come back. No more of that steel behind his eyes when the Other One took over. The softness comes back and it feels like she can exhale for the first time in a year. But just because his body heals doesn’t mean everything else is fine. There are days he is so silent Darlene thinks he died. Sometimes when she lays on the couch in the dark, she hears his barely contained sobs and it makes her want to tear at her heart. 

Eventually, it gets too much for her. She rips the covers off of her on the sofa and pads her way slowly to his mattress. She sinks down to her knees and lifts the covers, sliding next to him.

“W-what are you doing?” he asks, wiping at his tear streaked face, but still scooting over and making room for her.

“Remember when we were kids, we would sleep in your room after Mom was particularly being a bitch?” Darlene asks. “And how it didn’t end when we grew up a bit, we still did that until you left for New York. What I know is that it made me feel safe, to share a bed with you. And I don’t know if it made you feel safe, but I want to do that for you. I don’t want you to be alone in this. We’re a team. You don’t have to tell me anything. Just… let me do this. I won’t judge you.” 

Elliot stares at her for a while. Eventually, he lets out a shaky sigh, reaching for Darlene, who reaches back and wraps him in a hug. He begins to cry again. She doesn’t fall asleep until she hears the steady breathing that comes with sleep.

He never talks about these deep pockets of depression. There is too much left unsaid but Darlene doesn’t know how to breach that chasm. “You can stay for as long as you need to.” Elliot says one night from across the dinner table. He plays with his food with his fork, like he’s always done since childhood. It drove their mother crazy but it warms Darlene’s heart. “I like having you here.”

Darlene has to look away and hold in her tears.

They slowly build their lives back. Darlene applies to several dance studios as a teacher. She realizes that realistically, it’s the only thing she can do. She can’t apply for any jobs in technology because she doesn’t have a degree in it. She doesn’t have a degree in anything. Her having a nervous breakdown at the end of her senior year put a damper on things. Sometimes, late at night, she wonders what her life would be like if she did get her degree. She had a full ride to Syracuse majoring in ballet. It was the only time that her mother was proud of her. 

That was the only thing Darlene and her mother shared, a love of ballet. Growing up, her mom would take Angela and Darlene to ballet lessons. “I used to be a ballerina myself, you know.” Her mother would say from the driver’s seat, her hazel eyes in the rearview mirror. “But then I met your father and we had Elliot. I had to give it up.”

Sometimes, her mother would tell Darlene to sit on the couch and they’d watch old VHS tapes of her mother’s performances. “Never give this up.” Magda would whisper, holding Darlene close. “Do not waste your God given talent.” When watching the tapes, Darlene didn’t recognize her mother. How could this radiant, beautiful ballerina be the horrid woman beside her?

Ballet is what kept her sane. It’s what kept her out of the house so she didn’t have to face her mother. She had a routine: wake up, trudge through school, go to the studio to practice, take classes, teach tiny children, then go home as late as possible around 8 or 9, reheat whatever Magda managed to throw together, stay up and do homework, go to sleep around 1 am, rinse and repeat.

Ballet was the one thing she was good at. She would never be as smart as Elliot, or as kind as Angela, but at least she had this. She relied heavily on her Schedule when Elliot moved out for good. Her crazy brother and his crazy plan to live alone in New York. Not that she could blame him. He didn’t have a Schedule, so more often than not, he was left at home with their mother while Darlene was away for her own sanity. 

“I have to do this.” Elliot whispered as they laid side by side on his cramped twin sized bed. Same as they had when they were kids. It was his last night in Washington Township. The summer was ending and Elliot was leaving her for NYU. “I’m sorry I won’t be here to protect you anymore. But I can’t do it anymore. I can’t stand living here.” 

“I understand.” Darlene managed through tears, grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together. “It’s okay.” 

So Darlene throws herself into ballet. It’s the only way she can lose herself without taking drugs. So she dances and dances until it lands her a full ride to Syracuse. The day she moves into her freshman dorm, before parting, her mother pulls her close. “You were always my favorite.” she murmurs against Darlene’s scalp. The phrase creates a pit in Darlene’s stomach, “Make me proud, habibi.” Watching her mother drive away makes Darlene remember how their mother ignored Elliot as he moved out of their house and out of their lives.

So she dances and dances, slowly making her way to the top of her program. She spends her spare time losing herself in drink and drugs, swaying to the beat at college parties. It’s the only thing that takes the clawing anxiety away, if only for a moment. 

It isn’t until the drinks and drugs don’t work does she spiral into a full blown breakdown. The panic attacks don’t go away no matter what she does. In between classes she runs into the bathroom, collapsing on the floor as tears run down her cheeks. She loses it finally when her dance partner accidentally drops her. The piano stops and she feels eyes on her crumpled form. She barely hears the inquiries of her partner, her breathing too labored. She hears a keening sound and it isn’t until the attack is over does she realize those sounds were coming from her. Her skin feels too tight, the people in the room choking her.

She misses a week of classes after that episode, locking herself in her apartment as she tries to self medicate herself with drugs and alcohol. Anything to make the pounding of her heart less loud. Her professors email her concerned, but she never replies back. Her friends come knocking on her door several times but she ignores them.

It’s in the middle of the night when she decided that this was enough. She didn’t want to dance anymore. She packed her life up and left Syracuse, hitchhiking throughout the nation. She ignored the phone calls from her mother. But sometimes late at night, she’d listen to the voicemails she left. All of them full of venom and disappointment. “How dare you waste your potential?” her mother’s tinny voice hissed. “I should have known this would have happened. You’re nothing. Just like your father and brother. You’re fucking pathetic Darlene.” 

So, it makes Darlene nervous to apply for teaching positions. She had been so out of the game for so long. No one would hire her. She was nothing.

It was surprising to see that she got several calls back for different studios. 

“It’s because you’re good at ballet.” Elliot replied after Darlene expressed shock. “Why wouldn’t they want you?”

For how much anxiety it gave her, Darlene was surprised how easily she fell back into it. Her days were filled with teaching kids ballet. She was even more surprised how much she loved the job. She loved seeing these children grow and become more confident in their abilities. She loved being a part of that. 

Elliot, on his part, got back on his feet as well. Consulting and freelance work. His world still contained in his apartment. But that was alright. That was their lives. Almost back to normal.

“You should be proud of yourself.” Dom murmured through the phone. “You’ve got so many options.” 

“Hm, well if you say I should be, I guess I will be.” Darlene replied, staring at the ceiling cracks in the early morning. Elliot was already out of bed. He had taken to running in the mornings. Darlene never thought she would ever see the day that her brother would do physical exercise on purpose. But, hey, it’s a brave new world. 

“When can I see you again?” Dom asks and Darlene feels her stomach warm. Dom and her had been taking ever since Dom landed in Budapest on her lonesome. The minute the flight landed, Dom called Darlene demanding why she didn’t board the plane with her. She was still at Elliot’s bedside at the hospital and she couldn’t help it. She let the dam break and told Dom everything. 

That phone conversation lasted for hours, only ending when Dom said, “I guess I should hang up. Or find somewhere to stay. And stop running my phone bill. I don’t even want to think about how much this’ll cost me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Darlene replied. “Remember, we changed the world.” Dom laughed and the two fell into a comfortable silence, not quite ready to say goodbye. 

“And hey, maybe when you come back, I can pay you back with dinner?” Darlene blurted, feeling bold.

“Hm, I’d like that.” Dom replied, a smirk coloring her words. 

Dom was the one thing that kept her sane the whole time Elliot was in the hospital. Their phone conversations would fill the hours between Elliot’s rare moments of consciousness. “Have you even been outside your hotel room?” Darlene asks incredulously one day.

“Of course I have.” Dom replies. “You realize there’s a time difference here”

“I fucking know that.” Darlene laughs, rolling her eyes. “But we spend so much time talking to each other at random hours of the day. How do you plan around that?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like a chore, talking to you instead of going out.” Dom says and it makes Darlene grow hot. “But I have gone out, believe me.”

And Darlene listens to Dom’s excursions, the beauty of the city. The more Dom talks, the more Darlene wishes she went on that plane. She wants to be there with Dom experiencing the beauty and falling in love with her in person, not through the phone. But when Darlene glances over to Elliot’s still body, she feels a pang of shame for even wanting that. She needs to be here, with him. 

But when Dom comes back, Darlene follows through on her promise. It’s a whirlwind romance and Darlene has never been happier. She even gets the job at a well known studio and finds herself loving it. She had forgotten how much dance fills her soul. But this happiness makes her feel guilty when she sees her brother suffer. And it’s unfair to completely say he isn’t getting better, because he is. But she is reminded of how looking out for him once upon a time as too much. It was so much and she had no idea how to help. It was a clawing at her stomach, it ramped her anxiety up that she felt like she needed to escape. She feels that clawing at her stomach still and it makes her want to run the same as she had in the past. 

“I want to help you.” Dom says one night. They’re lying in bed and Darlene feels the overwhelming guilt she feels every single time she stays the night at Dom’s. She’s too afraid to leave him alone, but she knows Elliot doesn’t care that she spends one night without him. He might actually be basking in the fact that he’s alone in his apartment for once. Her brother was always a solitary creature. She knew she could be overbearing, but she didn’t know what else to do. 

“What are you talking about?” Darlene asks, opening her eyes and looking back at Dom.

“With Elliot. I want to meet him. Maybe become better acquainted.” Dom replies, turning in bed and staring at Darlene with a serious look on her face. “It’s clear how much you care about him. And I care about you. So by extension I care about him. You should bring him around here, all of us hanging out. It’ll be good for him to get out. And if he hates it, you two can leave and we’ll never talk about it again.”

“I don’t know.” Darlene says, biting her lip. “I’ll ask him and think about it.” 

Darlene fully expects Elliot to flat out say no when she asks him. She nearly chokes on her own spit when he shrugs and says, “sure, why not.” 

So with Flipper in tow, they hang out in Dom’s apartment. And it’s not as awkward as Darlene thought it would be. Dom is perfect. She doesn’t push or prod. And slowly, Elliot and her become closer. Elliiot’s guard is always up, but he’s always been able to get closer to women than men. Dom is no exception. Darlene couldn’t be anymore in love with her.

* * *

Even in the bitter cold do they go for a walk. It’s become a ritual for them, these evening walks. It started because Darlene was too scared to take Flipper on her evening walks alone. 

“Then I’ll just do it.” Elliot said, grabbing Flipper’s leash. The little dog’s ears perked as she hopped from Elliot’s mattress to scampering around his feet. 

“I’ll go with you then.” Darlene replied, getting up and slinging on her winter coat. “They can’t murder the two of us.”

On these walks they talk about everything and nothing. It feels good to be able to joke and talk with him again, like nothing happened. They’re just two people walking a dog. They go long distances, eventually planning out where they’d want to go. Darlene insisted they find a good place to sit down. “Flipper gets too tired. She needs somewhere she can rest before we go back home.” was Darlene’s excuse. This was not the case. Flipper proved to be a hardy little companion, excited to bound city blocks for hours. 

Eventually they settle on a park bench looking out to the Hudson. It becomes their place of discussion, even in the bitter cold. Darlene fights her shivers, but Elliot is as unaffected as usual. Darlene always envied how the weather never seemed to affect him. 

It’s here on this park bench that Elliot talks and Darlene listens. It’s such a rare occurrence but Darlene takes these moments and savors them.

“I don’t hear them anymore.” Elliot admits one night. “Or see them. And at first, I was relieved. When I woke up, I was so angry. Everything in my life had changed, people I loved were dead, and it was all their fault. So it was fine that they weren’t there. I didn’t want them to be there. I didn’t want to be around all of them who enabled the Other One. For the first time in my life, I felt sane. But then, instead, I started feeling empty. And alone. Every day I wake up and expect for Mr. Robot to just appear. I wake up hoping he’ll show up. But he never does. And now I’m just scared they’re gone forever. Parts of me are missing and I find myself hating the silence. Even when I was at my loneliest, I knew I wasn’t alone. I had them. I had him.”

Darlene’s heart clenches when she hears his voice break. “And I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to fucking cope without them.” 

Darlene has never truly understood the system. Her interactions with Mr. Robot were left to be desired. He was often callous and rude, even seeing herself as a threat to Elliot. He especially hadn’t been kind when she came back. Elliot had explained to her that there’s more than Mr. Robot, but he was the only one she had ever interacted with. Until the Mastermind came around. She knew from the moment she came back that the person who opened the door wasn’t her brother. And it confused and scared her. This new person was severe and knife sharp. He was explosive and so, so angry. She had never seen her brother be so angry before. Before she could ask him who he was, Mr. Robot took over the host body and told her to keep it a secret. “Elliot doesn’t know.” he said. “And this One doesn’t know he isn’t the real Elliot. Literally his psyche is so fucking delicate right now and I don’t need you to fuck it up by confusing this One.”

So she kept her mouth shut and learned to love this new Elliot. Loving this Elliot was as easy as breathing air. There were so many times she forgot this wasn’t her brother. It just felt so good to be around Elliot again, even if it wasn’t him. Maybe Elliot would never come back. Maybe this New One would become the host. Maybe the Mastermind was her brother now.

And she loved him, no matter how terrible he was to her, no matter how volatile and unhinged this New One was. Because she loved Elliot, every single part of him. So how could she not love this One?

She still remembers the last thing the Mastermind said to her. She remembers when he closed his eyes for the last time how she cried. It felt like losing a loved one. She hadn’t felt this way when their mother died. But when Elliot opened his eyes for the first time, it felt like she was whole again. Her brother was finally back. 

It was Elliot who proposed they visit Angela’s grave. Darlene is sure that if she wasn’t sitting on the bench, she would have fallen down. She hadn’t gone to Angela’s funeral. She doesn’t know whether or not the Mastermind went, it was at a period of time they weren’t talking. Mr. Moss had called Darlene and invited her, but Darlene told him it was too painful, she couldn’t go.

“I understand.” Mr. Moss said over the phone. When Darlene tried to apologize he said in his usual mild mannered way, “No, no. Don’t apologize. I get it, funerals can be too much. I remember when you were a little girl at your father’s funeral. You cried the whole time, the energy around you overwhelmed you. Angela wouldn’t want you to feel that way at hers.”

“Mr. Moss…” Darlene managed through tears. “I-I. Just. Thank you. So much. For being her dad.”

It was then she heard Mr. Moss’s voice break. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do in the world than be her dad. I just wish I was a better one at the end.” 

They parted ways with Mr. Moss telling her where Angela would be buried. “Just in case you ever want to visit her in the future.” 

So the next day, Darlene called off from work and they took the train to Washington Township. They’re silent the whole train ride, Elliot’s eyes fixed to the window. It’s February 27th, what would have been Angela’s 28th birthday. Gripped in Elliot’s hand is a copy of  _ From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler _ . A bouquet of flowers rests in Darlene’s lap. A joint and a bottle of champagne tucked away in her backpack.

At their stop, they stand on the platform, watching the train chug away. Darlene feels planted in place. “I’m scared.” She admits to Elliot, who like her, seems firmly planted. 

“Me too.” he admits back. They stand in silence looking around at their old town. Even before everything happened, they made a point of not going back as much as possible. It’s Elliot who begins walking. “I’ve stood her up too many times. Don’t want to keep her waiting.” 

They make their way to the cemetery in silence. Darlene pulls out her phone and reads the directions Mr. Moss gave her. When she informed him they were going to visit, he insisted they stopped by for lunch. Both Elliot and Darlene agreed they wouldn’t do it. 

They finally get to the Moss plot. The headstone is modestly sized, with Mrs. Moss’ name on it. Next to her name is Mr. Moss’ name. The addition of Angela’s name was newly etched onto the stone. Darlene’s knees buckle and she can’t help it; she sinks onto her hands and knees, the petals of the bouquet fluttering everywhere. She doesn’t recognize the animalistic sobs coming out of her. She feels Elliot’s hands on her back, moving his hands in soothing motions. All these pent up emotions suddenly burst forth and she can’t stop. In the midst of her sorrow she glances over to Elliot, who in his own part is crying as well. She watches as he reaches out a shaky hand, placing it on the cold tombstone over her name. In that moment, something in him breaks. He braces himself against the stone and begins to cry at the same intensity as Darlene. It reminds her of when they were young, how sometimes the world got too much and all they could do was cry.

Eventually her cries lessen and she’s left silently crying. She pulls herself into a sitting position, cradling her face in her hands. She takes a few deep breaths and glances over at Elliot, who is also slowly coming down. “Jesus Christ, sorry Angela. We’re both fucking hot messes.” Darlene mutters out loud, glancing up at the sky.

Laughter bubbles from Elliot’s throat and soon Darlene is laughing as well. Their laughter builds and it almost feels like Angela is laughing along too. “Happy fucking birthday.” Elliot quips, leaning away from the stone and sitting down on the cold hard ground. 

Darlene leans over and reaches for her backpack, pulling out the bottle and the joint. “Happy birthday, bitch.” Darlene laughs, popping open the bottle, which foams the spills over her hands. She pours some on the ground before taking her own swig, passing the bottle to Elliot. She reaches into her coat pocket and lights the joint, taking a slow drag as Elliot takes a drink. “We come bearing gifts. We hope you enjoy the champagne. I got it because you’re a fancy bitch who loves champagne. And hopefully somehow you get secondhand high.”

They take turns passing the bottle and the joint back and forth. They sit in silence. From time to time, Darlene glances over at Elliot, wondering what he’s thinking. He stares blankly in the distance, probably having his own moment with her. She looks back at the grave and begins talking to Angela. “I hope that you’re okay wherever you are. I hope you found the peace you were looking for your whole life. I’m so sorry for dragging you into our bullshit. I love you more than words can say. Everyday I think I see you, I see a flash of blonde or I think I hear your laugh but it’s never you. And it’s hard coming to terms that it’ll never be you. I hope to see you again someday.” she thinks, wiping away a tear. “Please forgive us. And please forgive Elliot.”

She watches as Elliot places the book on the ground, leaning it against the stone. He takes one last hit of the joint before stubbing it out against the ground, flicking it away. “I think I’m ready to go back home.” he says.

They get up and begin to walk towards the exit. “Can we stop by Dad’s grave?” Darlene asks. That makes Elliot falter. He quickly composes himself but Darlene doesn’t miss it.

“If you want to.” he says cooly and Darlene can’t help but raise an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, I want to.” Darlene replies. She turns towards the direction of the grave and Elliot follows behind her.

When they get to Edward Alderson’s grave, Darlene squats down so she’s face to face with his name. Elliot stands, his hands tucked deeply in his coat pockets. “Hey Dad, we beat the bad guys.” Darlene says. “I hope you’re proud of us.” She presses her fingers against her lips and then against the grave before standing back up. “Okay, let’s go home now.”

They ride the train back to New York in silence. Something seems to be different about Elliot but she has learned not to prod anymore. 

When they lay in bed at night, Elliot says, “Today was a good day.”

That makes Darlene forget that anything was wrong.

* * *

It’s early March when Elliot and Darlene go for their weekly walk. Darlene had finally moved out of Elliot’s house and in with Dom. The decision was grueling, but it wasn’t until Elliot told her she was allowed to leave.

“I’ll be fine.” he assured her. “Don’t worry.”

And it’s on this walk that Elliot tells Darlene a secret. “Tyrell Wellick and I fucked.” he says it one day out of the blue, when they’re on their park bench.

Darlene does nothing to hide her shock. “What?” she blurts. “When?”

“Two years ago.” Elliot replies, not looking at her. “For eight months.”

“How did this even happen?” Darlene asks. She is floored. For one, she never thought Elliot could bring himself to be around a filthy capitalist pig who worked for E-Corp. Secondly, she was surprised that Elliot had a prolonged amount of contact with a  _ man.  _ Not that she was shocked that Elliot was queer, but Elliot hated men. He hated being around men, men made him extremely uncomfortable. He even recoiled at the touch of a man. The only positive relationship he had when they were growing up was Sam, Elliot’s best friend. But Darlene could tell that Elliot had a crush on Sam until he moved away in middle school.

When Darlene was in highschool, one of the mean girls’ brother’s went to NYU. “And he told me he saw your brother sucking dick for some drugs.” she sneered. “Your brother is a fucking faggot.” Darlene scratched her eyes out. She never asked Elliot if it was true.

But the idea that Elliot was with someone like  _ Tyrell Wellick _ made her want to vomit. It made no sense.

“I met him when E-Corp partnered with AllSafe. Gideon made me give a presentation in front of the executives and…” he trails off, allowing Darlene to fill the space with her imagination. “We fucked until I found out his wife was pregnant. I was stupid, for some reason I had this belief that he loved me. It was fucked up, sometimes he’d treat me like I was the only thing that mattered to him, but then he’d throw me aside and tell me I was worthless. He was everything I despised and yet I… really liked him. So I couldn’t handle it when I found out she was pregnant. And when he found out I couldn’t handle it, he called me stupid for even thinking that I meant something to him. That I was an idiot for being jealous, that I was just a convenient fuck. He called me crazy. And he was right. He was right about everything.”

Heat courses through Darlene’s body. She can barely contain her red hot anger. Her fists clench into balls and Elliot glances over. “I ended things with him. But then I don’t know, everything seemed to fall apart. You left town, he left me. He was right.”

“Fucking bullshit.” Darlene roars. She springs up to her feet and Flipper jumps in alarm. “That is fucking bullshit! He was wrong Elliot. There is nothing wrong with you. You fucking did nothing wrong. Him, on the other hand, is an absolute piece of shit. He did this to you, yet he fucking tried to take over your revolution like some sort of psychopath!” She is suddenly angry at the Mastermind and Mr. Robot. They should have kept Tyrell away from Elliot, yet they did nothing.

But most of all, she’s mad at herself. How did she not know this very important part of Elliot’s life?

“I thought we left him to die in the woods.” Elliot says, ignoring everything she said. “I was sure of it. But I found out he was alive and I couldn’t believe it. He’s still alive.” 

“Well I hope you never fucking run into him again.” Darlene snarls, crossing her arms. “I’m glad you left him to fucking die, that fucking prick.”

“But that wasn’t right.” Elliot said, finally looking at Darlene. “He loved and worshiped the Other One. He threw away his life for someone who he thought was me. It wasn’t right, Darlene.” 

Darlene just stares at him, her blood pumping so loud she can hear it in her ears. “I don’t care. He shouldn’t have treated you like that.”  _ I shouldn’t have treated you like that.  _

Darlene is thrown off by Elliot’s small smile. “Maybe I deserved it.” 

They part ways at Elliot’s apartment and Darlene rides the subway home, fuming the whole time. She walks into her and Dom’s apartment, with a lack of Dom who is still at work. She paces around. Her mind keeps racing. She can hear Dom’s voice in her head telling her to take deep breaths. 

She glances over at her planner and thinks to herself that planning next week’s lessons will clear her head. As she flips it open, an envelope falls face down onto the floor. She frowns and picks it up, flipping it over.

A hospital bill. She takes the letter out.

_ Paid by T. Wellick. _

Anger flames through her again. How dare this asshole pull this shit. In a fit of anger, she tears up the letter and dumps it in the trash can

Darlene hears the door unlock and Dom enters with her arms full of groceries. “I’m home.” She announces. She looks at Darlene and a frown pains her face, “What’s wrong?”

“Fuck Tyrell Wellick.” Darlene bites.”If I ever see him, I will fucking murder him and you will help me bury the body.” 

Dom sets the bags on the kitchen table. She blinks but then agrees, “Okay.”

And Darlene could not love this woman more. 

**Author's Note:**

> kind of didn't stick the landing with the ending but most of it was good i hope. thank you so much for reading this if you read this. I think about this fic series all the time. and literally i have no one irl who has ever seen mr. robot so i'm this crazy person who's just obsessed with mr. robot so if you would like to talk to me about mr. robot i would love it. please i'm so lonely. I have so many fic ideas in my head (including a mpreg fic, i know it's not everyone's thing but if you are gross like me, would you like to see it?), so all of you sticking around to read my stuff is very nice. anyway, i hope you enjoy this holiday season.
> 
> and i hope i get into grad school lol


End file.
